Serving temps

[Pale Man]

45 minutes ago, disgruntled said:

I served a beer yesterday, it was easily 28°

I boiled mine yesterday and drank it like a coffee.

[ben 10]

Sorry, is this the beer temp or ambient we are talking about?

[Pale Man]

On 9/26/2021 at 7:49 PM, disgruntled said:

Sorry, is this the beer temp or ambient we are talking about?

No idea 

[BlackSands]

I'm English by birth so for me, genetically speaking,  ales should be 8 - 13ºC though I know in the UK they can be even warmer than that.  In Summer though I don't mind a colder fridge-temp beer...  at around 4 -5 ºC,  but really, anything colder than that and the flavour is totally lost - might as well be drinking iced soda water.  

[Pints]

There's a beer here called castle lite. Main megaswill I guess. Their marketing is, serve at -2 C. They have a cold indicator on the can that tells u it's cold enough. All they trying to do is numb the taste buds to the horrible taste. I like a cold lager in the heat, but other than that I can drink ale etc at a higher temp. More flavour

 

Edited October 2, 2021 by PintsAtMeLocal

[Spursman]

14 hours ago, BlackSands said:

I'm English by birth so for me, genetically speaking,  ales should be 8 - 13ºC though I know in the UK they can be even warmer than that.  In Summer though I don't mind a colder fridge-temp beer...  at around 4 -5 ºC,  but really, anything colder than that and the flavour is totally lost - might as well be drinking iced soda water.  

Couldn't agree more. If someone here has a recipe for a full flavoured brew that can still hold its flavour profile at 2° please share it.

[Aussiekraut]

10 minutes ago, Spursman said:

Couldn't agree more. If someone here has a recipe for a full flavoured brew that can still hold its flavour profile at 2° please share it.

The thing is, unless you pour and skull, you don't drink your beer at 2C anyway. By the time you actually drink it, it will have warmed a little. 

I like lagers ice cold, pales cold and dark beers warmish. Lagers aren't about fancy flavours and aromas, they're straight to the point, whereas pales need a little temp to release the goodness but you still want them with enough cold to quench the thirst. Dark beers are best a little warmer, hence them being seen as winter beers. I mean seriously, I don't think too many people have been working their butt off in the yard, building up a sweat and then said "I could do with an ice cold Stout now"  

 

[Spursman]

4 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

Lagers aren't about fancy flavours and aromas, they're straight to the point,

Fair point but wouldn't it be great to have full flavour though? Nearest I have got is MJ's NZ Pilsner. Top drop that one, even icy cold.

[Classic Brewing Co]

7 minutes ago, Spursman said:

Fair point but wouldn't it be great to have full flavour though? Nearest I have got is MJ's NZ Pilsner. Top drop that one, even icy cold.

We are all going to have different ideas & preferences but this article makes a few valid points although I wonder how many would actually adhere to it.

When it comes to craft ales and lagers, there really is no good one-size-fits-all temperature. And even if there were, it probably wouldn’t be ice cold.

You intuitively know this. There’s a reason we enjoy our coffee hot, our red wine room temperature, and our white wine cold. And the same is true for beer. Different styles of beer taste better to most people at different temperatures. Here are some general guidelines:

• 35–40°F (2–4°C): Mass market light lagers
• 40–45°F (4–7°C): Czech and German Pilsners, Munich Helles, wheat beers, and Kölsch
• 45–50°F (7–10°C): IPAs, American pale ales, porters, and most stouts
• 50–55°F (10–13°C): Belgian ales, sour ales, Bocks, English bitters and milds, Scottish ales
• 55–60°F (13–16°C): Barleywines, imperial stouts, Belgian strong ales, and Doppelbocks

When in doubt remember this rule of thumb: light body and low alcohol beer tastes better cold while full body and high alcohol examples are better warmer.

Whether you bottle or keg your homebrew, it’s unlikely that you’ll devote different refrigerators to different styles. So the easiest thing to do to enjoy a pint at its best is to pour your beer and let it warm to your liking before you dig in.

All of this, aside, though, don’t ever let anyone tell you that the way you drink your beer is wrong. If you prefer your malt liquor warm and your imperial stout ice cold, please go ahead. To paraphrase S. G. Tallentyre (who, in turn, paraphrased Voltaire), I may disapprove of the way you drink your beer, but I will defend to the death your right to drink it that way.

[Aussiekraut]

2 hours ago, Spursman said:

Fair point but wouldn't it be great to have full flavour though? Nearest I have got is MJ's NZ Pilsner. Top drop that one, even icy cold.

Yeah, I don't disagree with that. Just my preference is the more malty variety. Just poured a Munich Helles straight from the keg and it is perfectly fine at the 2C temp the kegerator is set to. If I was to brew new world hopped fruit bomb lagers (I like fruit bomb ales), it was probably a different story but somehow that doesn't seem right. I like experimenting with ales but am rather conservative with lagers.